A Halloween Night of Movie Magic, Music, and a Mighty Pipe Organ in Decorah!
DECORAH, IOWA ~
Now here’s something you don’t see every day!
Imagine settling into your seat for a movie.
The lights dim.
The screen comes to life.
And just when you’re expecting somebody to say something…
Nobody does!
Not one spoken word.
But don’t you worry.
This silent movie has a whole lot of sound waiting to be heard!
On Halloween night, Saturday, October 31, Luther College in Decorah is inviting the public to enjoy a rather extraordinary movie experience.
The 1923 silent~film classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring legendary actor Lon Chaney, will be shown with live pipe organ accompaniment by guest organist Dr. Matthew Gender.
And here’s the part that makes this evening especially interesting.
Dr. Gender will improvise the musical score live as the movie unfolds!
🎹 Wait a Minute… Silent Movies Had Music?
Oh, they certainly did!
Back when silent films were filling theaters, audiences didn’t necessarily sit in complete silence.
Pianists, organists, and sometimes entire orchestras helped bring the stories to life.
They gave suspense a heartbeat.
They gave sadness a melody.
They could turn a frightening moment into something that made you grip the arm of your seat!
And when something funny happened?
Well, the music could make that moment even funnier.
Long before movie theaters had the surround-sound systems we know today, musicians helped audiences feel what they were watching.
And this Halloween, that tradition is coming back to life in Decorah.
🎶 Forty-Nine Stops… and One Remarkable Instrument!
Now, if you’ve never heard a large pipe organ in person, you may be in for a surprise.
The performance will feature Luther College’s 49~stop Sipe pipe organ inside the Center for Faith and Life.
A pipe organ can produce an astonishing range of sounds, from the softest whisper of a melody to music that seems to fill every corner of a room.
And Dr. Matthew Gender won’t be following a prerecorded soundtrack.
He’ll be improvising the musical accompaniment to match the action and emotion on the screen.
That means the music will be shaped in the moment.
A shadow appears.
A character turns.
A scene grows tense.
And the organist responds through music.
It’s a little like watching two performances happen at once.
One on the screen.
And one at the keyboard.
🎭 A Story More Than a Century Old
Released in 1923, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is remembered as one of the great films of the silent era.
Lon Chaney became famous for his remarkable ability to transform himself into unusual and memorable characters.
In this film, he portrays Quasimodo, the bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, in a story filled with drama, loneliness, compassion, and the complicated ways people judge one another.
And although the movie is more than 100 years old, some of its questions are still worth considering today.
What do we see when we look at somebody different from ourselves?
Do we look only at the outside?
Or do we take the time to discover the person within?
Sometimes an old story can still hold up a mirror to the world we live in.
🎃 Halloween Costumes Welcome!
Now here’s another little treat!
Costumes are welcomed and encouraged.
So if you’ve been looking for something different to do on Halloween evening, you can enjoy a classic movie, experience live organ music, and perhaps wear a costume while you’re at it.
And the nicest surprise of all?
Admission is FREE!
No ticket price standing between you and an evening of movie history and live music.
🎬 Here’s What You Need to Know!
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
With Live Organ Accompaniment by Dr. Matthew Gender
Saturday, October 31, 2026
7:30~9:15 p.m.
Center for Faith and Life ~ Main Hall
Luther College
700 College Drive
Decorah, Iowa
Admission: Free and open to the public.
Costumes: Welcomed and encouraged.
Presented through Luther College’s Department of Music.
❤️ Sometimes the Old Ways Still Have Something Wonderful to Offer
We live in a world where movies can have spectacular special effects, enormous sound systems, and computer~generated scenes that seem almost impossible.
But sometimes there’s something mighty special about returning to a simpler kind of storytelling.
A screen.
A musician.
An audience.
And a story that has traveled through more than a century to find new people willing to listen.
Or, in this case…
To watch a silent movie and discover just how much it has to say. 🎬❤️
Word ’Round Town ~ Connecting Communities ~ Inspiring People.
Deliverance Hope ~word-round-town.com
Keep Goin’ ‘Round Town
There’s always another story waiting just around the corner.